India now ranks 107 in Global Hunger Index, Chidambaram slams Centre

India stood in the 101st position last year.

The list includes 121 countries.

India is ranked behind all south Asian countries except the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

The publishers of Global Hunger Index –- European NGOs Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe -– have labelled the level of hunger as “serious”, as India scored 29.1. The GHI score is calculated on a 100-point scale reflecting the severity of hunger, where zero is the best score (no hunger) and 100 is the worst.

The Global Hunger Index scores are based on the values of four component indicators – undernourishment, child stunting, child wasting, child mortality.

India ranks below Sri Lanka (64), Nepal (81), Bangladesh (84), and Pakistan (99).

Afghanistan (109) is the only country in South Asia that performs worse than India on the index.

China is among those countries ranked between 1 and 17, with a score of less than five.

Former Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram slammed the Centre over the report and tweeted: " When will the Hon'ble PM address real issues like malnutrition, hunger, and stunting and wasting among children? 22.4 crore people in India are considered undernourished. India's rank in the Global Hunger Index is near the bottom -- 107 out of 121 countries."

He said: " Our score has worsened since 2014 in the 8 years of the Modi government. 16.3 per cent of all Indians are undernourished, meaning they do not get enough food."

Chidambaram said: " 19.3 per cent of children are wasted, 35.5 per cent of children are stunted. Hindutva, imposing HIndi and spreading Hate are not the antidote to Hunger."